The best New Year's resolution for a Christian writer? Be generous!

It's a New Year - hurrah!

Or, at least, I think it's a 'hurrah'. I'm all for fresh starts and new pages, largely because I feel like I bumble through life making a bit of a mess of it on regular occasions. So a clean sheet is good, in my opinion, and I always make resolutions a-plenty.

I've been reflecting on my writing resolution from last year, which was to Make A Writing Plan. Yes, sounds impressive, doesn't it? (You can read the associated blog post on More than Writers right here.)

Did I stick to it? Er, no. Did I achieve its lofty ambitions? Take a wild guess.

But, actually, so much happened that wasn't in my writing plan, things which I could never have anticipated, that I've ended 2019 on a real high.

* I published one book, not two as I'd hoped, but that book sold double the number of copies I was hoping for!
* I wrote much less for both of the organisations I was hoping to freelance for - but picked up another unexpected freelance job which I really enjoyed.
* I didn't create any resources for my blog, but I did see it continue to grow and expand - and received the very unexpected honour of coming Runner-Up in the Premier Digital Awards 'Blogger of the Year' category!

More important than what we achieved or not, though, is what we learnt. I can't possibly bring to mind all the many lessons I've picked up this year, simply to say that I know I've absorbed so much.

Which brings me to this year's resolution. It's one I'm making because it's something I've learnt the importance of this year, and I hope you will make it with me: be generous.

Be generous even when it might seem a little self-sacrificial to do so. Promote others' books. Share others' blog posts. Be generous with your kind and supportive comments. Even if you don't have time to comment, 'like' what someone has said or shared - or, better give it a stronger emotion like 'love' or 'wow' (these things bump a post up people's newsfeeds...).

And the result of this generosity?

Well, remember the little boy and his packed lunch? When he shared it with the crowd of 5000+ people, he actually ended up with more than his mum had given him in the first place! (How do we know? Because there were 12 baskets left over - much more than what he'd started with! If he was still hungry, don't you think he'd have pecked some of the leftovers? But he wasn't - he'd had his fill!)

I'm not suggesting a prosperity-tinted philosophy of 'When you're generous, God will bless you with more'. That's not Biblical, and should never be our motivation.

In actual fact, it's the other way around. Because God has blessed us with so much, we can afford to be generous. What do we really need - in terms of money, fame or 'likes' - for our writing? What has God already given us? How can we share it with others?

Eighteen months ago we hosted a fellow ACW member for a couple of nights at short notice when she needed to be in our city. It was no big deal at all - we had a spare room at the time, and although we'd never met, we got on well, and actually hardly saw her as she was tied up during the daytime. But fast-forward to a few weeks ago, and our family is enjoying a complementary ice-skating trip, because this ACW member's daughter now works for the local open-air ice rink and was able to bag us some free tickets!

If we've been Christians a while we probably have plenty of stories like this of how God provides for us and blesses us with good things. It is definitely true in the financial realm, that when we share the resources God has given us to steward, He provides for our needs.

But it is also true in the creative realm. If God has given us resources or opportunities, He wants us to share them so that His Kingdom may grow and strengthen. A bit like the boy who shared his five loaves and two fishes, when we share what God has given us, the effect is multiplication: suddenly everyone seems to have what they need. I can't work out the maths of it, but when we all keep our blessings to ourselves, we somehow end up with less than if we'd been willing to share.

Keeping things to ourselves out of jealousy is the way of the world, not the way of the Kingdom, and therefore not a way of life for us as Christians.

So what does a generous life look like as a Christian writer?

Write a blog? What a blessing to be able to write and publish whenever you want! Share the blogs that others write, too.

Got an article published? What a gracious gift from God! Congratulate others on their successes. Introduce them to contacts which will help them get published too.

Published a book? What a generous God to give you that opportunity! Help others to promote theirs!

When we're generous, we all end up better off. When we share what we have and what we know, everybody benefits. And when we realise that everything we have, or have achieved, has been given to us by God, it becomes easier to share it.

It was only due to the generosity of others giving their time, energy, experience and wisdom, that I was able to write, publish and promote Redeeming Advent. I will be forever grateful to my kind friends in ACW and beyond.

Therefore, the fact that I was also able to champion others' Advent resources whilst promoting mine was no big deal. Surely the point of all of our resources is to point others to Jesus? And if my book isn't quite the right 'voice' for someone, I certainly want to point them to good alternatives!

So, in 2020 let us be generous with our time, advice, encouragement and contacts. For it is this which stands us apart from other writers, this which marks us out very clearly as Christians, those whose lives are oriented towards God, and whose hope is based in a Kingdom we don't yet fully inhabit.

Lucy Rycroft is the author of Redeeming Advent, blogger at Desertmum, and a freelance writer. In her 'spare' time she teaches music to classes of pre-school children and their parents/carers. But her main job is Crowd Control in a busy Vicarage: looking after four children, the Vicar and the laundry piles (which are more than deserving of a place in this list, taking on a life of their own) - but, as yet, no pets. Will 2020 be the year that she becomes generous, not only as a writer, but to her children who have been begging for a dog?